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Thread: Why no Pascal's Wager in Indian Thought?

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    Why no Pascal's Wager in Indian Thought?

    Greetings all,

    Pascal's wager for theism/belief in God is:



    Belief in God is "safer". The payoff from belief in God, B, is "safer" because if B and ~G, the loss is only trivially finite [this is questionable/subjective, imo], while the upside from belief in God and God existing [B and G] is "infinite". The upside from ~B is also only trivially finite, while the downside is unlimited.

    AFAIK, within Hindu philosophy, no such wager was posed by theists to non-theists.

    I have my own thoughts on why this wager was never considered. But, what are your thoughts?

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    Re: Why no Pascal's Wager in Indian Thought?

    No concept of salvation by belief.
    namastE astu bhagavan vishveshvarAya mahAdevAya tryaMbakAya|
    tripurAntakAya trikAgnikAlAya kAlAgnirudrAya nIlakaNThAya mRtyuJNjayAya sarveshvarAya sadAshivAya shrIman mAhAdevAya ||

    Om shrImAtrE namah

    sarvam shrI umA-mahEshwara parabrahmArpaNamastu


    A Shaivite library
    http://www.scribd.com/HinduismLibrary

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    Re: Why no Pascal's Wager in Indian Thought?

    I read somewhere that a similar argument was also put forward by the naiyayikas about following dharma I think, but I don't have any references, so don't quote me on this.
    Last edited by Sahasranama; 08 September 2012 at 02:30 PM.

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    Re: Why no Pascal's Wager in Indian Thought?

    Some schools of thought define God to be existence itself, so the ~G case never happens.

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    Re: Why no Pascal's Wager in Indian Thought?

    Quote Originally Posted by Omkara View Post
    No concept of salvation by belief.
    I agree. Although I would add that there is no concept of salvation ONLY by belief. Even if you take Bhakti schools, it is not simply belief that constitutes Bhakti but so much more - sravana, manana, smarana, kirtana, etc.

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    Re: Why no Pascal's Wager in Indian Thought?

    If [ ~B and G ], the payoff is not -infinity in light of Karma/Reincarnation. It need not even be a negative payoff at all.

    Additionally, the numbers are completely arbitrary with no point of reference at all. For instance, what does the -1 (finite loss) even mean if [ B and ~G]? What does the +1 (finite gain) even mean if [~B and ~G]? To even know what +/- 1 would mean in this context, it should firstly be quantified what our current experience is. What number should be given to our current lives and how/why?

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    Re: Why no Pascal's Wager in Indian Thought?

    Quote Originally Posted by wundermonk View Post
    Greetings all,

    Pascal's wager for theism/belief in God is:



    Belief in God is "safer". The payoff from belief in God, B, is "safer" because if B and ~G, the loss is only trivially finite [this is questionable/subjective, imo], while the upside from belief in God and God existing [B and G] is "infinite". The upside from ~B is also only trivially finite, while the downside is unlimited.

    AFAIK, within Hindu philosophy, no such wager was posed by theists to non-theists.

    I have my own thoughts on why this wager was never considered. But, what are your thoughts?
    The wager only works if you believe that eternal damnation is something you can cause to happen to yourself.

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